Apparatus for heating and dipping articles in liquid compositions



4 SheetsSheet 1 if W F. E. AHLBIN APPARATUS FOR HEATING AND DIPPING ARTICLES IN LIQUID COMPOSITIONS Oct. 29. 1957 Filed Oct. 27, 1955 Oct. 29, 1957 F. E. AHLBIN APPARATUS FOR HEATING AND DIPPING ARTICLES IN LIQUID COMPOSITIONS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 27, 1955 Oct. 29, 1957 F. E. AHLBIN APPARATUS FOR HEATING AND DIPPING ARTICLES IN LIQUID COMPOSITIONS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 27, 1955 Oct. 29, 1957 F. E. AHLBIN APPARATUS FOR HEATING AND DIPPING ARTICLES IN LIQUID COMPOSITIONS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed 061.. 27, 1955 United States Patent APPARATUS FOR HEATING AND DIPPING ARTICLES IN LIQUID CQMEDSITIONS Fred E. Ahlbin, Fair-field, Conn.

Application October 27, 1955, Serial No. 543,124

8 Claims. (Cl. 11858) The present invention relates to apparatus for dipping articles in baths of liquid compositions and for heating the articles before and/ or after such dipping.

A general object of the present invention is to provide such an apparatus which will carry such articles to and through various positions in a simple manner and alternately apply thereto heat and dip-coatings of liquid compositions in a controlled manner, such apparatus being capable of efiicient predetermined step-by-step operation with motion being initiated either by manual or automatic control.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide such apparatus which carries and moves such articles step-by-step along an endless path with periodic timed stoppage of the articles at various stations where the articles may be loaded before treatment and unloaded after treatment and dipped into baths of liquid compositions by motion of bath-carrying equipment to and away from such carried articles during periods of stop, with provision for carrying the articles through heating zones before arrival at a single or between a plurality of the dipping stations.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such apparatus which efliciently will preheat such articles and apply thereto dip-coatings of heat-foamable viscous material and thereafter heat the dip-coated articles to foam the applied coatings in a successive .step-by-step manner.

A further object of the present invention is to provide dipping equipment which will move to such carried articles efiectively to immerse portions thereof into equipment-carried baths and then move away from the dipped articles to withdraw them from the baths, certain of such equipment being characterized by means to maintain a constant flow of the bath material through the equipment and maintain a constant bath level in a pool thereof into which the articles are dipped.

Still another object is to provide structural embodiments of such apparatus which are sturdy and reliable, which may be readily constructed and which will allow efficient use and operation thereof.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will be exemplified in the constructions hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational longitudinal section, with parts broken away and others shown in elevation, of an apparatus which may be employed to advantage in practice of the method of the present invention;

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Fig. 2 is a transverse section, with parts broken away, taken substantially on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig v3 is an enlarged elevational transverse section, with parts broken away, taken substantially on line 3--3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 3 taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detailed plan view, with parts broken away and in section, of a portion of endless conveyer means and article holding devices used in the apparatus of Figs. 1 to 4 incl., with the articles being sectioned on a line 5-5 indicated in Fig. 6;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 66 of Fig. 5, showing in side elevation scissors carried thereby the loop handles of which are to be cushion coated by the present method;

Fig. 7 is a transverse section, with parts shown in elevation and others broken away, taken substantially on line 77 of Fig. 6; a

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section similar to a portion of Fig. 6, but with the scissors shown inverted as the conveyer travels along a run different from that indicated in Fig. 6 and after the loop handles have been dip-coated with plastisol prior to foaming or blowing of the latter;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged side view of one of the loop handles of the scissors shown in Fig. 8, depicting in cross section the foamed base layer of 'plastisol coating thereon after the latter has been blown and indicating in section the integral plastisolsur-face skin of the coating;

Fig. .10 is a plan view of an article different from the scissors indicated in Figs. 1 to 8 incl. which may be provided with a similar handle coating by the procedure of the present invention; and I Fig. 11 is a plan view of still another article which may be improved'by practice of the present invention; with a portion of the cushion coating broken away and sectioned. g

Referring to the drawings in which like numerals identify similar parts throughout, it will be seen that an apparatus suitable for practicing the method of the present invention in a continuous manner may include a main cabinet structure 15 having a casing 16 suitably lined with layers of insulating material 17 and supported upon suitable substructure or standards 18-18. The cabinet 15 has a top wall 19, a front end wall '20, a bottom-wall 21, a back end wall 22 and opposed side walls 23 and 24. The front end wall 20 is provided with a suitable lowerinlet opening 25 and an upper discharge opening 26, .and the back end'wall 22 is provided with similar lower discharge and upper inlet openings'225 and 226 respectively, with each of these openings suitably fitted with similar upwardly and downwardly sliding pairs of gates .27, 28 and 227, 228 which may be adjusted in position to limit the effective sizes of the openings as may be dictated by the size of the articles to be coated and passed therethrough.

The chamber defined by the cabinet 15 is subdivided by a transverse partition plate 29 to separate an upper compartment 30 from a lower compartment 31. The lower inlet opening 25 in the front end wall 20 and the lower discharge opening 225 in the back end wall 22 communicate with the lower compartment 31 while the upper discharge opening 26 in the front end wall and the upper inlet opening 226 in the back end wall communicate with the upper compartment 30. The upper compartment 30 is suitably provided with a lateral partition structure 32 and flow plate 33 as to define therein a coin tinuous flow path from a pair of suitable blowers 34, 34 successively through a curved passage 35, downwardly adjacent the front end wall 20 to a horizontal passage 36, back toward the back end wall 22 and up'through an opening 37 in partition '32, and then forward throughof electrical power to the heater 39. As will be best seen from Fig. 2, thepair of blowers 34, 34, preferably of a full width multi-blade centrifugal type, have the rotors thereof suitably carried by a cross shaft 41 extended through side walls 23 and 24 and rotatably supported by exterior pillow blocks 42, 42 mounted upon supporting brackets 43, 43. The shaft 41 ,carries a drive pulley'or sheave 44 fixed thereto about which is lapped a drive belt 45, in turn lapped about another drive pulley or sheave 46 driven by an electrical motor 47 mounted upon the top wall 19. .1 1'

Similarly the lower compartment 31 is provided with a similar lateral partition 232 and another curvedflow plate 233 which are mounted therein in an order substantially the reverse of the mounting of partition plate 32 and flow plate 33 in the upper compartment 30; Another pair of blowers 234, 234 are mounted in the lower compartment '31 to drive air through a curved passage 235 adjacent the back end wall 22 and upwardly to a horizontal passage 236, thence to a forward opening'237 inpartition plate 232 adjacent the front end wall 20,. then downwardly through that opening and back through a lower horizontal I passage 238 to the blowers 234, 234 in the lower'compartment 31. Another suitable electric heater 239 preferably is mounted in the lower passage 238 of compartment 31 so as to heat the circulated air as it is drawn back to the blowers 234, 234. Cross shaft 241 of the lower pair of blowers 234, 234 is mounted through the side walls 23 and 24 supported by pillow blocks: 42, 42 and brackets 43, 43 in the manner of the mounting of shaft 41 for theupper' pair of blowers 34, 34. The drive pulley 44 on the shaft 241 of the lower pair of blowers 234, 234 is lapped by an endless belt 245 in turn lapped about another drive pulley 46 of a second electric motor 247 to operate the lower blowers with the latter preferably mounted upon platform means 48 provided by a pair of angles secured to the bottom wall 21 and extending laterally therefrom beyond the side wall 24, as will be seen in Fig; 2.' Another terminal box (not shown) for the supply circuit of the heater 239 may be mounted on and supported by the bottom wall 21. w

' front end of the cabinet, so that when the cross shaft is driven both sprockets are rotated thereby. Cross shaft 56 is suitably driven, such as by a drive sprocket and driving chain, which for simplicity have been shown diagrammatically in Fig. l, and as will be seen from Fig. 3, consists of a driven sprocket 59 fixed on the shaft and an endless chain 60 lapped thereabout and a driving sprocket 61. Driving sprocket 61 is fixed on output shaft 62,0f a reduction gear unit 63, suitably driven by an electric motor 64. The reduction gear unit 63 and the motor 64 are supported by a platform 65 mounted on the framework 58, as will be seen from Figs. 1 and 3. The pair of rear endless chain sprockets 55, 55 are also mounted on a cross shaft 256 suitably supported by a pair of floating pillow blocks 66, 66 each slidably carried between a pair of lateral rails 67, 67 supported by a rear framework 68 and with each of these pillow blocks being adjusted in position longitudinally of the apparatus by an adjustment screw 69 in a conventional manner to maintain adjusted tension on the endless chains 52, 52.

The electrical supply circuit of electrical motor 64 includes therein a conventional limit switch unit, shown in dotted lines at 70 in the left hand side of Fig. 1, witha control arm thereof 71 located in the path of the flights 53-53 as they travel along the bottom run of the endless conveyer. The limit switch 70 may be utilized periodically to stop travel of the endless conveyer as each flight passes the same so that a corresponding flight will be stopped in an exposed position at the front of the apparatusin the vicinity of station 72 for unloading and loading, and any conventional means, such as a manual starter, may be employed to start the motor 64 after each flight 53 is'unloaded and then again loaded at the loading station 72. It will be noted from Fig. 1 that the bottom run of, the endless conveyertravels through the lower inlet opening in front end wall 20 to pass through the upper passage 236 of the lower. compartment 31gand then Since the composition of certainbaths to be employed I in practice of certain embodiments of the methodof the present invention by operation of the apparatus shown in the drawings as well as thicknesses of applied coatings will, as explained hereinafter, dictate temperatures in the upper and'lower compartments and 31, the supply cir cuits of the heaters 39 and 239 preferably have associated therewith certain temperature controls including temperature control bulbs 49 and 249 respectively located in the flow path at the junctures of passage portions and 235 respectively with lateral passages 36 and 236. As a measure of safety, high temperature limit switches may also be provided, each having associated therewith a co n. trol bulb with one located at 54 in the passage portion 35 and the other located at 250 in passage portion 235. These control bulbs are indicated in Fig. 1. n

An endless conveyer 51 is extended through from the front end to and through the'back end of the cabinet 15? by way of openings. 25, 26, 225 and 226, and is provided out through the outlet opening 225 in the back end wall 22, to expose flight-carried articles at the rear of the cabl net115 for a certain dipping operation to be'explained laterq Also, as ,shown in Fig. l, the upper run of the endless conveyer 51 extends forward through the inlet upper opening. 226 in the back end wall 22 to pass through-the lower horizontal passage 36 of the upper compartment .30 and finally through the upper outlet opening 26in the front endwall 20 to expose the suc: cessive flights 53.53 at the unloading and loading station 7.2. j I

Since an embodiment of the method of the present invention may include a step'of dipping in a priming bath portions of the articles to be coated with foamed plastisol, as explained hereinafter, and the composition of such bath when employed for bonding may includc volatile solvents, provision is 'made 'for carrying off fumes from such solvents both at a clipping station 73 below the loading station 72 andfrom the lower heat 1 ing compartment 31. Such means for carrying off or in the formof a pair of transversely-spaced endless chains 52, 52- of the link type to be sprocket drivenand carrying' at longitudinally-spaced points transversely-extending flights-53-53. As shown in Fig. 1, each endless chain 52 is lapped about a front driving sprocket 54 and a rear driving sprocket 55. The transversely-spaced pair of front driving sprockets 54, 54 are suitably mounted on and fixed to a cross shaft 56 with each end thereof suitably supportframework 58.

exhausting volatilized solvents preferably consists of a motor-driven fan 74, which exhausts to a stack 75, and suction conduit 76 having a branch line 77 communi- 'cating at 78 with the lower compartment 31 and another branch line 79 connected to a transversely-extending suctionhead 80 provided witha'transversely-extending inlet slot 81 on its lower side in the vicinity of the dipping station 73, all as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. As indicated in. Fig. 2, the conduit 76 may be provided witha suitable manually-adjustable damper device 706 to regulate the flow of exhausted fumes therethrough.

i As is indicated in Fig. 1 and more clearly shown in Fig. 3, the device to effect dipping at station 73 may be of the'following construction. A pair of transverselyspaced vertical rails 82, 82 are suitably supported by A dipping tank'83 is carried between transversely-spaced carriage devices 84, 84 each provided with flanged wheels or rollers 85, riding upon one'of the rails 82 for vertical up-and-down movement of the A bottom of the tank 83 is fitted with a pair of spaced transversely-extending angles 86, 86 through which a cross pin 87 extends pivotally to connect thereto an eye 88 fixed to the top end of a piston 89. The piston 89 is reciprocatively mounted within a gaseous medium or air cylinder 90 for raising and lowering the piston and the tank therewith. The cylinder 90 is provided with suitable conduits 91 and 92 to supply gaseous fluid or air thereto and to exhaust the same for raising and lowering the piston 89. The cylinder 90 is suitably pivotally connected at 93 for support by a lazy tongs structure 94 suitably pre-adjusted in effective length and mounted upon a transverse member 95 of the framework 58. Thus, when air or other gaseous fluid is let into the cylinder 90 through the duct 91 piston 89 is raised to elevate the dipping tank 83 to the dipping station 73 for immersion of downwardly-extending portions of articles carried by flight 53 stopped thereat into a bath 96 in the tank. The level of the liquid constituting the bath body 96 is suitably maintained by a float valve 97 carrying a float 98 within the tank and with the valve connected in the conventional manner to a supply conduit (not shown) which may lead to an overhead tank for gravity feed of dipping liquid. The dipping time is dictated by the time the dipping tank 83 is held in elevated position by piston 89.

A second dipping station is provided at 99 where the lower run of the endless conveyer 51 emerges from the cabinet 15 on the back side thereof, as is indicated in Fig. 1. At the second dipping station 99 the portions of the lower and upper runs of the endless conveyer 51 exposed beyond the cabinet 15 are hooded over by a suitable hood 100 having a sight window 101 in the back side thereof and with its bottom open at 102 to permit raising and lowering therethrough of dipping tank structure here described in connection with Figs. 1 and 4. The framework 68 supports a pair of vertical transverselyspaced rails 282, 282. A tank structure 103 is carried between carriages 84, 84 like those employed for support of dipping tank 83, being suitably fitted with rollers 85 85 which ride the rails 282, 282. The tank structure 103 consists of an outer tank 104 which supports on internal brackets 105105 a second smaller dip tank 106 with its bottom 107 at a distance appreciably above the bottom of the outer tank to define below it an outer tank compartment 108. A conduit 109 connects the compartment 108 to the intake of a piston pump 110 with the discharge from the latter being connected by a conduit 111 to the interior of the inner tank 106. Thus, when the pump 110 is operated, liquid in the outer tank compartment 108 is pumped up into the inner tank 106 to keep the latter full with excess overflowing the top edges thereof back down into the outer tank compartment 108. The piston pump 110 is operated by an air cylinder 112 suitably connected by a duct 113 to a source of air supply (not shown). Such pumping and continuous flow maintains the plastisol bath ingredients in well admixed condition. Since it may be desired to keep the body 114 of dipping liquid in the outer tank compartment 108 at a predetermined, adjusted or elevated temperature, such as to assure a consistency which is pumpable and facilitates dipping in the bath 117 in inner tank 106, this compartment is preferably fitted with a suitable heat exchanger 115 having suitable ducts 116 connecting it to a source of cool or heated liquid, such as water (not shown). Thus, the inner tank 106 is kept constantly filled with a body 117 of dipping liquid at uniform temperature, which will be a plastisol composition, to maintain a standard volume thereof in the immersing portion of the tank structure 103.

The dipping tank structure 103 is mounted upon elevating means similar to those employed in connection with the dipping tank 83 and, as will be seen from Fig. 4,

it may comprise a like air cylinder 290 having its piston 89 connected by another eye 88 to angles 86 carried by the bottom of the outer tank 104 with the air cylinder suitably supported at 93 upon another lazy tongs struc-' ture 294.. Preferably, the lazy tongs structure 294 is mounted upon a lever 118 pivotally supported at 119 by a bracket 120 mounted upon a cross member 121 of framework 68. The cross member 121 preferably carries an air cylinder 122 having a piston 123 supporting the free end 124 of the lever 118. Such adjustable support of the lazy tongs 294, on which the air cylinder 290 for raising and lowering the dipping tank structure .103 is mounted, permits rather preciseadjustment of the level to which the surface of the body of dipping liquid 117 in the inner tank 106 is to be lifted so as to dictate quite accurately the depth to which articles are to be dipped therein for coating with plastisol composition. Flowcontrol valves (not shown) may be'employed in the gas or air supply and/or exhaust lines 91 and 92 to regulate the speed of elevation and lowering of the dipping tank structure 103.

As will be seen in Figs. 1 and 2 and more particularly in Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive, each flight 53 of the endless conveyor 51 may consist of a cross bar 125 having a plurality of longitudinally-spaced holes .or slots 126126 extending therethrough, preferably rectangularly shaped in cross section and flared or enlarged downwardly when desired for carrying small scissors, such as those illustrated at 127-127, when the loop handles 128, 128 of suchscissors are to be coated in accordance with the present invention. Of course, each flight 53 will be designed to accommodate whatever articles are to have portions thereof coated by the method of this invention and the structure thereof, as illustrated in the drawings, is here described by way of example as it has been designed for the coating of scissors handles. The ends of each slotted cross bar 125 are supported by suitable brackets 129, 129 each of which is fastened to oneof the endless chains 52 by through pins 130, 130 each carrying a roller 131 disposed between laterally-spaced pairs of side links 132, 132 of the chain. Rollers 131-131 preferably ride on a rail 133, a pair of which are mounted horizontally in the horizontal passage 36 of the upper compartment 30 to guide the top run of the endless conveyer 51, and another pair of which are mounted in similar fashion in the horizontal passage 236 of the bottom compartment 31 for a like purpose with respect to the lower conveyer run. Each of the holes or slots 126 in the transverse flight bar 125 is preferably of such width as to receive through the top smaller end thereof the two lapped blades 134, 134 of a pair of scissors 127 and the heads of the pivot pin 135 extending therethrough.

Each flight bar bracket 129 also preferably carries a downwardly-extending post 136 to or about a pair of which for each flight 53 are attached or looped ends or terminal eyelets 137, 137 of a transverse rod or wire strand 138. As a result, when the blades 134, 134 of a pair of scissors 127 in relatively lapped positions are inserted through one of the slots 126 in flight bar 125 and, as their noses approach the wire 138, they are pivoted away from each other or spread apart, they will receive between their cutting edges the wire 138 suitably to hold them in spread-apart relative positions as indicated in Fig. 6. Thus wire 138 may tend to retain the pair of scissors 127 on the flight bar and, more particularly, holds the looped handles 128, 128 of the scissors spread apart in the relative positions depicted in Fig. 6 so that when they are dip-coated, coating material will not tend to bridge across from one to the other. 7

Each flight bar 125 is provided with an elongated holding or locking plate 139 preferably in the form of an angle having a top flange 140 provided with a'series of longitudinally-spaced notches 141141 .alignable with the slots 126-126. Thus, afterxa plurality of the scissors' 127127 are mounted in the slots 126-126 of the slottedflightbar '125, as indicated in the right side of Fig; 5, the locking plate 139 may be moved laterally in the directionof the arrow 142 so that its slotted top flange 140 moves transversely across the top of the flight bar with each slot 141 receiving therebetween one of the pairs of scissors blades 134, 134 above the projecting heads oftheir transverse pivot pin 135. As a result, the locking plate 139 securely holds the plurality of scissors 127-127'in the plurality of flight bar slots 126-126 when suitable means are provided for holding the locking plate on the flight bar. Such holding means may be provided in the form of a pair of permanent magnets 143, 143 inset in the top faces of the opposite ends of the flight bar 125, as will be understood from Figs. and 7. Thus, the locking plate 139 should be of paramagnetic material, such as sheet steel, with the pair of magnets 143, 143 securely holding its ends snugly against the top'surface of the flight 'bar 125 with limited force so that the locking plate may be readily pried or pulled off for unloading from the'slotted flight bar the series of scissors 127-127 after dip-coating the handles 128- 128 thereof.

In operation of the apparatus depicted in Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive, in practice of an embodiment of the method of the present invention, an operator will stand at the loading and unloading station 72 where one of the flights 53 is located with the endless conveyer stopped. The operator will load a series of scissors 127-127 in the slots 126- 126 of the flight bar 125 at this station in the manner described above in connection with Figs. 5 to 7 inclusive and then apply the locking plate 139 in the indicated manner to hold the scissors on the flight bar with their loop handles 128-128 extending upwardly, as shown in Fig. l. The operator will then start up the motor 64 to rotate the endless conveyer 51 so that the next following flight 53 is moved forward to the loading and unloading station 72 with carry forward of the loaded flight, the endless chain moving forward the distance between a pair of successive flights. When a plurality of successive flights is so loaded, one will eventually be moved along the lower run of the endless conveyer to the posi tion of the control 70 at the first dipping station 73 so that the handles of one or more of the scissors loaded in a flight bar when moved thereto will strike the control arm 71 to stop the endless conveyer motor 64, permit ting unloading and loading of a flight 53 at the loading station 72 and also a dipping operation at dipping station 73. Thereafter, the endless conveyer 51 will move step-by-step with its operation being initiated by a starter button and being stopped with loaded flights located at the stations 72 and 73 by the control 70. It will be noted, particularly from Fig. 1, that after each flight 53 moves forward and then down about the pair of sprockets 54, 54, the plurality of scissors 127-127 will be held therein in inverted positions with their loop handles 128-128 depending. Such manual control of the stepby-step operation of conveyer 51 can be supplemented by automatic timer controls which after the conveyer is set in motion and then periodically stopped, such as by control 70, will start the conveyer automatically as dictated by a predetermined automatic timer cycle.

The plurality of inverted scissors 127-127 thus have their loop handles 128-128 extending downwardly at the dipping station 73 and they may there be treated by the priming composition 96 in the tank 83 as the stopped conveyer holds them still. Air pressure applied to the air. cylinder 90 of the clipping mechanism at dipping station 73 raises the clipping tank 83 to immerse the downwardly-extending scissors loop handles 128-128 in the clipping solution. Suitable mechanism (not shown) is provided to apply such air pressure to the tank-raising cylinder 90 and then to bleed it out in such timed relation with operation of the endless conveyer 51 as to assure that the scissors loop handles 128-128 will be dipped into the priming solution in the raised tank 83 for a time 8 suflicient to assure the proper applicationf'of a ground coat thereon and the tank will then be lowered to permit the dipped scissors handles to be moved forward alongthe lower run for the next step or periodof motion oi the endless conveyer51. Qf l:

When the apparatus illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 is set up for an operational run, the circuits of the heaters 39 and 239 are closed and the fan motors 47and247 are energized so that warmed or hot air is'circulatedi through the passages 36 and 236 respectively of the upper: and lower compartments 30 and 31. As a consequence; a plurality of the inverted scissors 127-127, after having their loop handles 128-128 dipped in priming solution at the dipping station 73, are carried forward step-by-step. along the lower run of the endless conveyer 51 through the passage 236 of the lower compartment 31 with heated air flowing countercurrent therethrough to dryout'or evaporate all traces of solvent. At thesame time, with. the exhaust fan 74foperating, the solvent fumes are car-1 ried away from above the dip tank 83 at the dipping. station'73 (and thus from the vicinity of the proximate, loading station 72) by the slotted elongated nozzle 80, and also by the duct 77 communicating with the lower. compartment 31, and the gaseous medium so exhausted; from the latter is replaced by fresh air which may flow into the lower chamber 31 through the end wall openings 25 and 225; T v.

Eventually, the flight-supported series of scissors 127- 127, having dipped handleswith the ground coat thereon thoroughly dried, is moved to the second dipping station 99 where, the scissors as a group are held in inverted suspended position by stoppage of the endless conveyer'between periods of forward motion, the dip tank structure 103 is raised by its air cylinder 290. As a result, the inverted loop handles 128-128 of a group of scissors 127-127 at the second dip station 99 are immersed in the bath 117 of 'plastisol' which is carried upwardly by the raised, tank structure 103. The scissors loop handles 128-128 are maintained at the second dipping station 99 immersed in the plastisol bath 117 for a predetermined period to assureja'coating of proper thickness thereon. As will be explained later, thelatent heat in the scissors loop handles 128-128, the consistency of the plastisol bath 117, and the time of dipping or immer sion at the second dipping station 99 will determine the thickness of the coating of plastisol applied to the handles. Then the dipping tank structure 103 is lowered to permit the plastisol-coated scissors handles to be moved. forward from the dipping station at 99 during the next period of motion of the endless conveyer 51 and to be replaced at that station by the succeeding group of scissors 127-127. In this manner, the loop handles 128, 128 of each pair of scissors 127 are suitably provided with relatively thick coatings, illustrated at 144 in Fig. 8, of unfoamed plastisol. The plastisol composition which constitutes the coatings 144, 144 on the scissors loop handles 128, 128 contains a suitable blowing agent, as will be more fully explained hereinafter, so that the plastisol may be subsequentlyblown to sponge-like consistency to pro-. vide a desirable cushion on the handles.

Each group of plastisol-coated scissors loop handles 128-128 is then carried step-by-ste p up about the. sprockets 55, at the back end of the apparatus and then forward along the top run of the endless conveyor 51 to enter the upper compartment 30 through opening. 226, so as to travel through the passage 36 countercurrent to a flow of heated air through the latter. The blowing agent in the plastisol composition applied from the bath 117 is of a nature to release gas when heated to a proper temperature; As a consequence, when the, plastisol-coated scissors handles 12 8-128 are moved stepby-step forward through the compartment30, the plastisol becomes heatedto a temperature to release interiorly thereof fromthe blowing agent a suitable blowing gas, such as uitrogen,,to foam the plastisol and transform the plastisol coating to a sponge-like coating. Blowing of the plastisol coatings in this manner produces on the surfaces thereof substantially liquid-impervious skins which close off the cellular pores at the surfaces of the coatings, and the cellular pores are of a segregated nature or sealed off from each other so that foaming gas will remain entrapped therein. Such coating structure is i1 lustrated in Fig. 9 wherein it is indicated that each spongelike coat 244, after the blowing operation, consists of a sponge-like cellular base layer 145 covering all exposed surfaces of the loop handle 123 and a substantially liquidimpervious surface skin 146 covering this cellular base layer. It will be noted therein that due to the shape of the grasp portion of the loop handle 128 laterally-projecting means of the latter are located behind at least portions of the foamed coating 244 thereby securely anchoring the same in position. Such mechanical anchorage. of the foamed plastisol coating 244 on the grasp portion of the loop handle 128 may be supplemented by the priming or ground coat which was previously applied at the first dipping station 73 if such ground coat is in the nature of a rubber-like adhesive which will securely bond the foamed plastisol material to the surfaces of the grasp portion of the handle. However, if desired, such ground coat, of course, may be omitted, particularly when the shape of the handle grasp portion is such that the foamed plastisol coating cannot slip off in use.

Practice of the method of the present invention is, of course, not limited to the coating of loop handles of scissors and shears and, for example, may be employed to advantage for applying similar coatings 244, 244 to handles 228, 228 of a pair of pliers 227, as illustrated in Fig. 10. Likewise, the handles of other tools or instruments, such as handle 338 of a screw driver 327, may be provided with a similar cushion coating 244, as illustrated in Fig. 11. In the case of the pliers of Fig. 10, since the handles 228, 228 taper toward their tips, it is desirable to use a bonding ground coat applied at the first dipping station 73 securely to bond thereon the cushion coatings 244, 244 while in the case of shaped handles, such as 338 of the screw driver 327 of Fig. 11, portions of the handle to the rear or back of the shank may be so enlarged, as illustrated, that the cushion coating 244 may not readily slip off in use and in such case the bonding ground or primer coat may be omitted.

The appearance of tools and instruments and other articles may be enhanced by coating the handles or other portions thereof with such cushion coatings of plastisol, particularly if there are incorporated in the latter pigments to 'give them attractive and distinctive colors. For example, the use of such pigments has been found to be of particular advantage in the sale of scissors and shears. The colors are found to be attractive to purchasers and particularly when small scissors are designed for use in schools by children, it is found that the colored coatings have particular appeal. Also, if the coatings of different classes and styles of scissors and shears are made distinctively different, the color distinctions may be relied upon for identification of different scissors and shears in sets designed for different purposes and also to distinguish between those to be sold for difierent prices.

The sponge-like cushion coatings provided in accordance with the present invention, when employed on the handles of tools and instruments such as scissors and shears, effectively eliminate the usual objection which has been directed to the designs thereof with respect to comfort from the beginning of their introduction. Many shapes and efforts to eliminate discomfort have been tried without complete success and all such efforts have required very careful finishing. This has been particularly true with respect to scissors which are sold to kindergartens and schools for use of children, a common complaint being that the loop handles hurt their hands. The cushion coatings provided by the present invention have eliminated such objections. Also, the use of suchcushion coatings makes unnecessary costly finishing procedures. Scissors; and shears are manufactured by three generally different methods of forming the blade units of cast iron or by a hot drop forging procedure or by a cold pressed or cold forging method and, of course, the latter procedure is the most economical to mass production. By employing cushion coatings of the present invention, it is no longer necessary to grind and carefully to finish the loop handles of such scissors and shears since rough surfaces thereof are covered and cushioned by the present cushion coatings, and thus more economical manufacturing procedures can be employed in the production of such articles.

The primer or ground coat composition constituting the first bath 96 in tank 83 at the first dipping station 73 is such as to give good adhesion between the subsequentlyapplied plastisol coating and the surfaces of the articles, such as handles of tools and instruments, and to increase resistance to corrosion in case the latter are made of oxidizable metal, such as steel. Thus this primer composition is a rubber-like adhesive containing a solvent, and preferably may be an acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer dissolved in a suitable ketone solvent, such as methyl ethyl ketone or methyl isobutyl'ketone. On heating, such a primer or ground coat composition cross-links to form a film which is highly adherent with respect to both the plastisol coating and metal surfaces covered with the latter. Since polyvinyl chloride, a constituent of the plastisol, adheres strongly to clean steel surfaces, such primer or ground coat may be omitted in the practice of the present invention when the articles or handles to be coated are of steel, such as the steel handles of scissors or shears. in order to assure cleanliness and freedom of the steel surfaces from grease and oil such surfaces should be washed with a suitable cleansing agent, such as in a warm dilute mixture of sodium diphosphate and sodium carbonate for a few minutes, followed by rinsing. Such primer or ground coating, or cleansing of steel surfaces, may be dispensed with if the articles to be coated with sponge plastisol are either of such physical shape as to prevent slip-off of the blown plastisol coating, as in the cast of looped handles of scissors or shears, or, are, of an inherently clean nature as may result from certain production procedures and formed from material such as steel having an adhering afiinity for plastisol ingredients;

The length of time required to dip the articles in the primer or ground coat bath '96 is of no moment and may constitute any practical portion of the interval during which a group of the articles are stationary at the first dipping station 73 'as may be dictated by the time which is required for unloading and loading a flight53 at station 72. The solvent in the primer coat composition may be eliminated by air drying and'may be speeded up by forced circulation of air and/or heating, as in lower compartment 31.

Preheating the articles prior to coating with unfoamed plastisol to elevated temperatures, such as during the time they travel through lower compartment 31, not only assures elimination of primer coat solvent but also has a definite bearing on the thickness of the unfoamed plastisol applied by dipping at the second dipping station 99. In some cases where the foamed or sponge plastisol coating may be acceptably thin, relatively speaking, preheating may be such-as to adjust the temperature of the articles to relatively low elevated temperatures, such as of an order that at the time the articles are dipped in the bath of plastisol they may be at a temperature as low as about F.- The more latent heat in the articles-below a certainnraximum temperature when dipped in the un foamed plastisol the thicker will be the coating of .the latter as deposited :by the dipping, such as .at the second dipping station 99. The maximum temperature of such latent heat in the articles to be dipped in the plastisol bath is dictated not only by therequirement'that it m-ust not 'be iSQ high as to be destructive of the plastisol but,

more specifically, it should not be-so high as to cause ap preciable release of gasfrom the blowing agent-in the plastisol composition during the dip-coating. For example, in the dip-coating of articles with plastisol by the use of the apparatus illustrated in the drawings the temperature of the preheating compartment 31 may be maintained at a temperature in a range which "assures that the temperature of the articles at the time they are dipped into the plastisol bath will be in the preferred range of about 150 FQup to a temperature approaching the temperature at which blowing gas is released from the blowing agent, such as approaching about 400 F. The period oftime during which the articles are subjected to such preheating, such as by travel through the preheating compartment 31, may be governed partly by the time necessary to bring the temperature of the articles up to the predetermined preheat temperature and partly by the time necessary to assure complete elimination of primer coat solvent, and may be of the order of about three to eight minutes. If, for example, a temperature of about 360 P. will release foaming gas from the blowing agent in the plastisol composition it would be preferable that the preheating and whatever cooling which may occur between the preheating and the dipping into the plastisol bath assure the-temperature of the preheated articles as they are dipped in the plastisol bath be appreciably less than 360 F., or such that as they are dipped in this cooler bath and lose heat to the latter the temperature to which they are so promptly cooled will be below the blowing temperature. Such precautions in preheating will assure the attainment of the desired thickness of the dip-coat of unfoamed plastisol and permit subsequent controlled foaming or blowing of the latter which assures formation of the cured liquid-impervious surface skin on the foamed or sponge plastisol coating of desired thickness and minimizes possibility of rupture thereof which might occur with too rapid blowing.

The plastisol bath 117 in dipping tank 106 is a viscous fluid composition of an expansible plastisol comprising a dispersion of thermoplastic resin in a plasticizer and containing a blowing agent. Essentially it preferably comprises a polyvinyl chloride base resin which may be a straight polyvinyl chloride or a copolymer of amajor amount of vinyl chloride and a minor amount of another vinyl type monomer. For example, the resin ingredient may be a copolymer of vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate derived from 85% to 95% vinyl chloride and 15% to vinyl acetate. The resin ingredient may also be a mixture of other thermoplastic resin and polyvinyl chloride or copolymerized polyvinyl chloride.

The plasticizer in which the resin ingredient is dispersed may be any of those recognized as suitable for use as plasticizer ingredients of plastisols, such as dioctyl phthalate, didecyl phthalate and other high boiling esters, ethers, ketones, etc. The quantity of the plasticizer employed should be such as to assure a fluidity permitting the dip-coating therein of the articles and pumping for circulation in the clipping device 103, such as from about 60 parts thereof per 100 parts of resin to about 300 parts thereof per 100 parts of resin. The amount of plasticizer may be nearer the lower limit of this range or even less if a quantity of suitablesolvent promoting fluidity is employed, such as methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, xylene or toluene, e. g. 30 parts of methyl ethyl ketone and 20 parts of methyl isobutyl ketone may be mixed with 25 parts of xylene or toluene to form a solvent which may constitute as much as about three quarters of the resin-plasticizer dispersion composition. But in the event that such a solvent is employed in the plastisol bath the upper heating compartment 39 for blowing and curing the plastisol coating should be connected to the exhaust equipment, such as duct 76 and the dipping bath kept cool.

. It may be desirable to use in the plastisol dipping composition a lrnown'heat or light stabilizer but it will be best to avoid those of the lubricating type since it is desired to avoid any. material which may make difiicult retainment of the finished sponge coatings on the surfaces'ofthe dipped articles. About 1 to 5 parts of triba sic lead sulphate per parts of resin is useful for this purpose. Phenyl salicylate may also be used for this purpose. The plastisol composition is to be of the expansible type to transform the dip-coat of plastisol to a sponge coating and thus a blowing agent ingredient will be included which upon heating will release a gas. It is preferred to employ such blowing agents as will release nitrogen in the coating when heated since due to the high nitrogen content of the atmosphere there may be less tendency for collapse of the cells by transfer of gas therein to the atmosphereif the cells of the sponge coating are filled with nitrogen. Many known blowing agents are suitable, such as N,N'-dimethyl-N,N-dinitroso terephthalamide, a,a'-azobisisobutyronitrile, p,p'-oxy-bis(benzene sulfonyl hydrazide), diazoaminobenzene, and dinitrosopentamethylene-tetramine. The range of temperatures in compartment 30 which will release blowing gas there from may be about 220 F. to 400 F., and the particular temperature selected will be dictated by the specific blowing agent selected as is known in the plastics industry; The quantity of the blowing agent employed will be dictated by the degree of density and proportion of cellularity or porosity desired since the greater the amount of the blowing agent the greater is the amount of nitrogen released to reduce the density and increase the porosity. For handles and hafts intended for heavy duty service a greater density may be desired while for lighter service a greater porosity and less density may be desired. Also where space is limited, such as in handle loops of small scissors, the acceptable thickness of the sponge coatings is limited and such limitation may be served by limiting the thickness of the applied dip-coat through use of lower temperatures of latent heat in the preheated articles and shorter dipping times as well as by using lesser amounts of blowing agents. If the'sponge coating is provided for comfort cushioning of the grip by tender bands, such as children in the case of scissors intended for use in schools, a fairly high degree of porosity for maximum comfort may be desired, which may dictate use of an amount of blowing agent greater than the minimum. Generally from about 10 to 40 parts by weight of blowing agent per 100 parts of resin are suitable.

The use of pigments may be desired to enhance the ornamental effect of the cushion coating and many types of pigments suitable for this purpose are known to the plastisol industry. For example, titanium oxide, carbon black, Lithol Rubine Toner, iron oxide red and iron oxide yellow are a few thereof. Where some transparency or a degree of translucency is desired the coloring pig.- ment may be used alone and in small amounts and should be of such character as to assure the desired characteristic. The degree of opacity may be increased by including an amount of white pigment. Only a few parts of the pigment may be required and it may be ground into resin base material with the use of a small amount of the plasticizer.

If, for example, the loop hafts of handles 128, 128 of small scissors, such as is illustrated at 127, areto be cushion coated for school service, the method of the invention may be practiced in the following manner. Small scissors such as those illustrated in the drawings at 127- 127 will be loaded on successive flights 53-53 of the endless conveyor 51 and the speed of the latter adjusted such that they pass through the preheating compartment 31 and blowing compartment 30 will be for durations of about seven minutes. The temperature of the preheat compartment 31 will be adjusted to about 320 F. and that of the blowing compartment 30 to about 360 F.

a h st;

13 The primer dipping tank 83 will be connected to a supply of primer of an acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer dissolved in methyl ethyl ketone. The plastisol dipping tank structure at 103 will be charged with a viscous fluid bath like or similar to the following composition:

Ingredient: Parts by weight Polyvinyl chloride 100 Cool water at the temperature of the cold water supply system is circulated through the heat exchanger piping 115 to keep the plastisol bath from unduly heating up due to the proximity to the chamber 23 and compartment outlet 225, as well as to latent heat in the conveyor 51 and the scissors 127-127 carried thereby through the preheating compartment 31. Excessive heating up of the plastisol dipping bath 117 causes it to foam and to skin over which deleteriously afiect the application of the plastisol dip-coatings and the eflectiveness of such coating and the subsequent blowing. In order further to protect the plastisol dipping bath 117 from the deleterious effects of heat from compartment 31 the rear lower door 227 is designed to slide up between the two side chains 52, 52 of the endless conveyor 51, intermediate successive flights 53, 53, when the endless conveyor is stopped for the dipping operation, so as to close most of the outlet opening 225 and shield the raised dipping tank structure 103 from heat radiating from the preheating compartment 31. Apparatus (not shown) will in timed relation to the stepby-step operation of the conveyor 51 raise this rear door 227 just after the conveyor comes to a stop and lower it just before the conveyor starts up again.

The loop handles or hafts 128, 128 of each pair of scissors 127 will be dipped in the primer bath by raising and lowering tank 83 at station 73, in about a second or so (in and right out), and then be carried step-bystep through the preheating compartment 31 during a period of about seven minutes to vaporize and carry away (through exhaust duct 76) the primer solvent and to preheat the scissors and their handles to a temperature approaching 320 P. Then at dipping station 99 the preheated handles 128, 128 will be dipped into the cool unfoarned and circulating plastisol bath 117 by raising plastisol dipping tank structure 103, where immersion will be maintained for about thirty seconds. As previously proposed flow control valves in the flow ducts 91 and 92, leading to and from the elevating and lowering cylinder 290 for dipping tank structure 103 may be employed to advantage to control the rate of travel of the latter. It is important that the rate of withdrawal of the dip-coated articles from plastisol bath 117 be such as to minimize or eliminate formation of drip teats of plastisol at the bottom portions of the dipped articles from both esthetic and structural points of view. Upon lowering of the plastisol dipping device 103 the scissors 127127 with their dip-coated handles or hafts will then be inverted and carried back through blowing compartment 30 where the coating is subjected to a temperature of about 360 F. during a period of about seven minutes in step-by-step traverse through the blowing compartment to release nitrogen gas in the dip-coats and blow them up to sponge-like cushion coatings with simultaneous heat-curing of substantially liquid-impervious skins on the cushion coatings. Further details of the procedure as carried out by the apparatus illustrated in the drawings are described above.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efliciently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustratiye. I and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the genericand specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall the'rebetween.

Having described my, invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for heating articles and dipping them in liquid compositions comprising, in combination, conveyor means to carry the articles along a path and article support means on said conveyor means, a loading station located along said path, housing means succeed ing said loading station providing a preheating zone through which a portion of said path extends and separating said zone from said loading station, a dipping station located along said path following said heating zone and separated from the latter by said housing means, means to stop the articles at said dipping station, means to carry a bath of liquid dipping composition to the articles at said dipping station and there-at immerse portions of the articles in said bath, said dipping means being movable away from the stopped articles at said station to withdraw them from the bath and permit them to be moved onward, additional housing means providing'another heatingzone through which extends a portion of the path beyond said dipping station to heat the dipped articles and separating the second heating zone from both said loading and dipping stations, and separate controlled heating means in said isolated zones for separately controlling the temperatures therein.

2. Apparatus for dipping portions of articles in liquid compositions comprising, in combination, means defining a circuitous and endless path of travel, a loading and unloading station located along said path, means to carry the articles along the path including a plurality of successive flights, each flight comprising a transverse support member having a plurality of article-receptive ways therein with each way adapted to receive one of the articles in upright position with a portion thereof depending and a movable locking plate removably mounted on said transverse member adapted temporarily to lock a plurality of the upright articles in the Ways, a dipping station located along said path spaced appreciably from said loading station, means temporarily to stop said flight carrying means when each of said articlecarrying flights is moved to said dipping station, dipping means located at said dipping station carrying a bath of liquid dipping composition movable up to immersion of the depending portions of said articles in the bath, said dipping means being movable away from the stopped articles at said station to withdraw their depending portions from the bath aand permit them to be moved onward, housing means defining a pair of separate compartments with separate portions of said path extending through said compartments, one of said compartments defining a preheating zone intervening said loading and dipping stations and separating this zone from said stations with the other compartment defining a second heating zone intervening said dipping and loading stations and separating this second heating zone from said stations, and separate controlled heating means in said compartments for separately controlling the temperatures therein.

3. Apparatus for heating articles and dipping portions thereof in liquid compositions comprising, in combination, means to carry the articles along a path including a plurality of flights each adapted to support a group of said articles in the form of scissors or shears in inverted position with loop handles thereof depending, each flight comprising a transverse member having 'a plurality of scissors-receptive ways therein each adapted to receive one of said scissors or shears, and a locking plate ing a plurality of notches aligned with said ways each to receive one of said scissors or shears, structure of said locking plate intervening said notches being adapted to engage one of said scissors or shears and temporarily hold it in inverted position at said station to said transverse member, means to stop the inverted scissors or shears at a dipping station along the path, means to carry a bath of liquid dipping composition to the inverted scissors or shears at said dipping station and thereat immerse the loop handle portions thereof in said bath, said dipping means being movable away from the stopped inverted scissors or shears at said station to Withdraw their loop handles from the bath and permit them to be moved onward, and means providing a heating zone through which extends a portion of the path beyond said stationto heat the clipped looped handles of said scissors or shears.

4. The apparatus as defined in claim 3 characterized by a spreader element supported above said transverse member at said station and carried with said transverse element in a position crossing said ways, said spreader element being engageable between the spread blades of the plurality of scissors or shears when held temporarily in said ways by said locking plate.

5. The apparatus as defined in claim 4 characterized by said ways being in the form of holes extending through said transverse member with said transverse spreader element being a rod-like member mounted on said transverse member to one side of the latter with said locking plate being mounted to the opposite side of said transverse member, at least portions of one of said locking plate and transverse member being formed of paramagnetic material with the other carrying magnetic means to attract and hold said portions temporarily to hold said locking plate to said transverse member.

6. In apparatus of the type described an endless chain flight adapted to support and carry a plurality of scissors or shears comprising a transverse member having a plurality of laterally-spaced holes extending therethrough with each hole adapted to receive a pair of scissors or shears, a rod-like blade-spreading element mounted to one side of said transverse member and extending across said holes to enter between spread-apart blades of scissors or shears mounted through said holes, a locking plate removably mounted to the opposite side of said transverse member and having a plurality of laterally-spaced notches in one edge thereof aligned with said holes and defining intervening fingers, said fingers being adapted to engage the plurality of scissors or shears mounted through the holes in said transverse member temporarily to hold to the latter said scissors or shears, and means temporarily holding said locking plate to said transverse member.

7. The endless chain flight defined in claim 6 characterized by magnetic means mounted on said transverse member with said locking plate having at least portions of paramagnetic material temporarily held to said transverse member by said magnetic means.

8. Apparatus for heating articles and dipping them in liquid compositions comprising, in combination; endless conveyer means to carry a plurality of groups of scissors orshears along an endless path having an upper run and" a lower run, a pair of upper and lower heating com-- partments with one traversed by said upper run and the other traversed by said lower run, said endless conveyer means having portions extending beyond said compartments to opposite sides thereof with a loading and unloading station located adjacent the upper run along one of the extended portions outside of said compartments and a dipping station located adjacent the lower run along the other extended portion outside of said compartments; said endless conveyer means having a plurality of longitudinally-spaced transverse flights with each flight comprising a transverse carrying member having a plurality of laterally-spaced holes extending upwardly therethrough with each hole being receptive of a pair of scissors or shears, a rod-like spreader element mounted to the inner side of each of said transverse members and extending across and beneath said holes when the transverse mem transverse member when inserted through the holes in,

the latter, and means temporarily holding each of said locking plates in a removable manner to the one of said.

transverse members to which it is mounted; dipping equipment at said dipping station mounted beneath the lower run and comprising a raisable and lowerable open-top dipping tank to carry a pool of flowable dipping com position into which loop handles of a group of scissors or shears carried by one of said flights at said dipping station will be immersed when said tank is raised, an open-top overflow receptacle beneath said tank, and means to circulate the liquid composition from said overflow receptacle up to saiddipping tank; means to supply heat to the lower heating compartment to preheat the scissors;

or shears as they are carried forward therethrough by the lower run of said endless conveyer means from said loading and unloading station towardvsaid dipping sta;

tion, and means to supply heat to the upper compartment to heat dip-coating applied by immersion at said dipping station to the loop handles of the scissors or shears as they are carried back therethrou'gh by the upper run of said endless conveyeirmeansfrom said dipping station toward said loading and unloading station; and means to drive said endless conveyer means step-by-step with periodic successive stops of said flights at said loading and unloading station with simultaneous periodic successive stops of the flights at said dipping station.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS V Phelps et al. Ian. 3, 1928 2,253,529 Palewick et a1, Aug. 26, 1941 2,362,457 Anderson Nov. 14, 1944 2,661,307 Foster Dec. 1, 1953 f 2,699,143

Eber Ian. 11, 19551 

